How to change the email address or phone number you use to sign in to your Microsoft account online

You may be prompted to enter a code we send to the email address or phone number listed in your account as security information. This lets us know the request is coming from you.

Select either Add email or Add phone number.

If you selected Add email, follow these steps. Otherwise, go to step 7 to add a phone number.

If you want to create a new email address to use, select Create a new email address and add it as an alias, and then follow the instructions.

If you have a non-Microsoft email address (such as an @gmail.com or @yahoo.com email address) that you want to use, select Add an existing email address as a Microsoft account alias, and then click Add alias.

When you add an existing email address, you'll be required to verify that you own that account. To the right of the alias you added, click Verify, and we'll send a message to that email address to get confirmation.

When you receive the verification email, click the link provided to verify that you own the account.

Note The email address that you enter can't already be in use as a Microsoft account alias.

If you selected Add phone number, follow these steps:

Select your country from the list.

Enter the phone number you want to use, and then select Next.

When you add a new phone number, we'll send a text message to that number to verify it. Enter the code in the text message, and then select Next.

Step 2: Set the new email address as your primary alias

After you add the new email address, you need to set it as your primary alias to have it displayed when you sign in to all devices and services. Here's how:

On the Manage your account aliases page, select Make primary under the email address you want as primary under Account alias.

Note Only email addresses can be used as primary aliases.

Step 3: Remove the old email address you no longer want to use

To remove an email address you no longer use, select Remove next to that alias on the Manage your account aliases page, and then follow the instructions provided.

Note It can take up to 48 hours for the change to your email address to be implemented across all Microsoft services. If you sign in to your Microsoft account on an Xbox One console by using your Kinect sensor, you might temporarily be asked to manually sign in with a controller. If you're still being asked to manually sign in after 2 days, try removing your profile from the console and then adding it back. (For help, see Gamertag and profile: Manage profile support.)

You can use any email address or phone number you have listed as an alias to sign in. To make it harder for someone to break into your account, change your sign-in preferences to turn off any alias you don't want used to sign in.